Boy's Quest articles from October 2004

Boy's Quest archives from October 2004

All in the family.
October 1, 2004... "Squirrels?" my cousin Phil scoffed. "Where I come from we call them tree rats!" My cousin Phil comes from about five blocks away, not from Outer Mongolia. We had been sitting on my back porch steps when Phil had spotted a squirrel high up...

Those very prickly fellows.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... A porcupine has around 30,000 quills. This makes it a very prickly fellow. These slow-moving critters need those quills to survive. Without them, they would have been extinct long ago as the quills are the porcupine's only means of defense. ...

There's a mouse in My pocket.
October 1, 2004... There's a mouse in My pocket gnawin' away. He's nibblin' and scratchin' the corner, I'd say. He's sniffin' and searchin' for morsels to eat, Pawin' and clawin' his little, mouse feet. He tears at the fabric, finds lint and old...

Little houses on the prairie.
October 1, 2004... A golden eagle circles overhead. Its keen eyes search for a tasty treat. Down below, two sharp barks rip through the silence. The alarm has sounded. It spreads like wildfire. Soon every prairie dog echoes the bark. They race to burrow...

I wish I were a prairie dog.
October 1, 2004... I wish I were a prairie dog. If I were a prairie dog, I would have a big family with lots of brothers, sisters, and cousins. I would play tag on the prairie or hide and seek in our underground burrows. (I never would get caught in the long,...

Fred's world.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... My good ole' buddy Sam was laughing at me this morning. It seems he thinks it's funny that I'm afraid of mice. Last night, when I was headed to the kitchen for my nightly drink of water, a small mouse was running around the hallway. I woke Lisa...

The giant guinea pig.
October 1, 2004... Imagine walking along a riverbank in the grasslands of South America. The air is full of chirps, buzzing, grunts, and squeaks. Grunts and squeaks? You see birds in the grove of trees up ahead. You see the cicadas on the ground around you. What...

Hamsters are nocturnal.(Science)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Do you have a pet hamster? Do you know that it is nocturnal and you are diurnal? What does that mean? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Being nocturnal means hamsters are awake all night and sleep all day. Being diurnal means that you are awake...

Visit the capybaras.
October 1, 2004... Capybaras have webbed feet and love the water. "Sparky," a capybara in the Cleveland Zoo's rainforest, relaxes in a tub of running water. Capybaras sit underwater with just their eyes, nostrils, and ears sticking out. [ILLUSTRATION...

No room for Scratchy.
October 1, 2004... In a cage in Jem Jensen's room, lived Scratchy, the nighttime rat. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] He scratched in the dark and squeaked at the moon. But Jem was fine with that. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Then Grandpa came to the...

Munchy crunchies.(Chef's Corner)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Just like people, hamsters enjoy eating a variety of food. Day after day of eating rodent rations can be very boring for a busy hamster. Mix up this easy recipe and watch your hamster's eyes light up with delight when you share it with...

The yellow-bellied marmot.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Most babies are cute, but marmots come close to topping the list. They are born in the spring, leave the den at three weeks, and two weeks later, they are weaned and on their own. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When they are just five weeks...

The Tricky Bucket mousetrap for the smarter mouse.(Workshop)
October 1, 2004... Mickey Mouse might be cute, but his real-life cousins are icky! If you don't think so, I bet your mother will disagree with you! Mothers not only hate mice, but they often bellow out an earth-shattering scream when they see one of those "cute,"...

Whose house? Whose home?
October 1, 2004... What's a "whistle pig"? This North American member of the squirrel family is more often called the woodchuck. When Native Americans called it "wuchak," European settlers pronounced the name "woodchuck." It's also called the groundhog. And what...

The gerbil.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... I am a gerbil, gerbil, And you can't know how I feel To be in this wire, wire cage And on this wire wheel. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The wheel goes round and round and round. I hope my paws don't miss. Won't...